King of Pain
by Amaterasu Rising
Summary: Everything's fine for Link...he's going to marry his love, Zelda, and become the King of Hyrule. He's a serious contender in the SSBM tournament. One night changes everything for him...rated R forsome sexuality and violence, thematic elements and language


Princess Zelda was usually calm, regal and collected, but on this day she was happy and excited. Her usually well-kept blonde hair fanned out behind her as she jogged down the concourse of the airport terminal, dragging her rolling luggage behind her. Her ordeal with the evil Ganandorf over, she could finally smile and have a little fun. She convinced her number one guy Link to come with her to the Super Smash Brothers Tournament, as their last big adventure before assuming their roles as queen and king of Zelda's homeland Hyrule. Link gave into his overwhelming feelings for the beautiful and kind princess and let her into his heart. After their harrowing adventures to save the future of Hyrule, Link fell in love with Zelda and she agreed to marry him.  
  
Link struggled to keep up with his fiancée. Zelda flew along the people mover with her tiny steps of glee. "Zelly, hold up," he hollered over the noise of the crowded airport. He wove in-between people to catch up to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist when he finally matched her stride. The two young lovers shared a laugh.  
  
The second year of the tournament brought new challengers. Zelda immediately picked out who was new at registration. Two young men caught her eye. They were both tall and well built, but not bulky. One had dark hair and a serious, quiet face. He was dressed in a stylish black ensemble that dripped of regal grace, but his sheathed claymore told Zelda he was a warrior before he was a noble. The other was dressed similarly, only his outfit had splashes of rich sapphire blue, and his fiery hair was long for a man. He wore it slightly spiked and held up with a matching blue headband. His powerful sword was also sheathed, dangling from a holster at his hip. He was holding conversation with Yoshi, the resident green dino friend of Mario, Luigi and Peach, while the dark one stood quietly on the fringe. Link looked where she was looking. "Swordsmen," he asked. He nodded with approval. "Good. We could use more of them."  
  
Registration flew by and the two settled into their adjacent rooms in the village of the Tournament grounds. It was late afternoon, and they were wiped from the journey, but they only had a few days before training began. The village was huge and offered all kinds of fun, which unfortunately could not be enjoyed during the intense competition of the tournament. They hurried out to lose themselves in the fun of the bravado and pageantry that surrounded the tournament. They ran into the two young warriors they saw at registration. They were having drinks at an outdoor bar near the water. "Hey," the redhead called to them as they took a seat at the bar. "Good ale." He winked at Zelda and tipped his stein to Link.  
  
Link possessively held Zelda around her middle from behind. "I'll have one, barkeep," he said to the bartender. A cold one was passed his way and he took one hand free to sip his beer. The dark one quietly drank from his stein. The redhead slid down to sit near the couple. "Hey, I'm Roy," he introduced himself. "And that's Marth." He nodded to his pal, indicating he should sit with them. He stood and joined them, all silently. Zelda took his tight lips to mean he was stuck-up or pissed off, but his dark eyes and strong yet sweetly handsome face were too relaxed to show any signs of irritation or reservation. "We saw you at registration. Good to see chicks fight. I'm looking forward to seeing you in action."  
  
Roy's brazen flirting visibly burned Link. "Same here," he said, trying to check his annoyance. "I'm Link, and this is my fiancée Zelda."  
  
"Good to know ya." Still Marth sat without a word. "So, you're a swordsman too, dude?"  
  
"One of the best," Link boasted.  
  
"Oh yea? Gonna make me wait until the tournament, or would you show me what you can do before then?"  
  
"Name a time and a place, I'm there."  
  
"Here we go," Zelda said under her breath. Marth looked at her with a soft little smile. His eyes said he was as tired of his friend's showboating as Zelda was of her man's.  
  
"Cool, man." Roy nodded happily. The two talked deep into the night, as Zelda cautiously pursued conversation with Marth. Zelda had to keep most of the conversation afloat, but she didn't mind. Marth had a quiet, dignified manner that tempted her; she wanted to get him to open up more. She didn't even know time had passed until Link hugged her around her shoulders and said to her, "Zelly, we should hit it. We've got a long day tomorrow."  
  
"You're right, love. It was nice to meet you both," she said politely to Marth and Roy. Roy nodded at Link and smiled a cocky smile at Zelda. Marth looked up at the graceful princess and said a quiet goodbye. " 'night, guys. We should kick it sometime before the tournament starts, man," Link said to Roy.  
  
"Hell yea, man. See ya."  
  
Zelda took Link's arm and the blond couple headed to their rooms for sleep. 


End file.
